TEL AVIV, Israël, 12 mars 2026 — StageOne Ventures a annoncé aujourd’hui la clôture de son cinquième fonds à 165 millions de dollars, marquant ainsi 25 ans d’identification et de soutien des fondateurs de technologie d’entreprise les plus ambitieux d’Israël au stade de la création.

Avec la clôture du Fonds V, le total des actifs sous gestion de StageOne dépasse 650 millions de dollars. Cette étape renforce la position de l’entreprise en tant que premier partenaire institutionnel des fondateurs d’entreprises techniques. Depuis 2001, StageOne a été à l’avant-garde de tous les changements majeurs dans l’informatique d’entreprise, depuis l’ère des télécommunications et la montée de la cybersécurité jusqu’à la migration vers l’informatique dématérialisée. Aujourd’hui, le Fonds V double la mise sur la prochaine frontière : la couche d’infrastructure de l’IA.

Le Fonds V se concentrera sur les startups révolutionnaires dans les domaines suivants : AI Infrastructure, Cybersécurité, Physical AI, Agentic Orchestration, et Vertical AI – des secteurs dans lesquels les talents d’ingénierie israéliens détiennent un avantage décisif au niveau mondial.

« L’IA n’est pas seulement un secteur vertical pour nous ; c’est la nouvelle architecture des logiciels d’entreprise », a déclaré Yuval Cohen, fondateur et associé gérant de StageOne Ventures. « Malgré les incertitudes mondiales et locales, Israël continue de produire des ingénieurs de classe mondiale. Avec notre cinquième fonds, nous redoublons d’efforts pour être le premier et le plus fiable des partenaires des fondateurs d’entreprises qui définissent des catégories de produits. »

Une expérience éprouvée en matière d’innovation à grande échelle

StageOne est dirigée par Yuval Cohen (fondateur et associé directeur), Tal Slobodkin (associé directeur), et Netanel Meir (associé).

À ce jour, l’entreprise a investi dans 69 entreprises et soutient actuellement un portefeuille à forte conviction de 29 entreprises actives. StageOne joue le rôle d’investisseur de « premier contrôle », en maintenant un partenariat pratique et à long terme avec les fondateurs et en continuant à soutenir ses entreprises les plus solides par le biais d’importants tours de table de suivi.

« Notre modèle repose sur une conviction profonde et une implication dès le premier jour », a ajouté Tal Slobodkin, associé directeur. « Dans un monde où l’investissement est automatisé, nous offrons le contraire : un partenariat de haut niveau. Nous ne nous contentons pas de fournir des capitaux ; nous apportons les bases stratégiques et opérationnelles qui permettent aux fondateurs techniques de devenir des leaders mondiaux dans leur catégorie. »

Le nouveau fonds est soutenu par un groupe prestigieux d’investisseurs institutionnels et privés des États-Unis, d’Europe et d’Israël, ce qui témoigne de la confiance à long terme dans la stratégie de StageOne et de la résilience de l’écosystème technologique israélien.

Sorties stratégiques et impact sur le marché

StageOne a réalisé avec succès 21 investissements, offrant constamment des rendements élevés. Parmi les sorties notables et les points forts du portefeuille, on peut citer :

• Coralogix et Silverfort : (à la tête de la prochaine génération d’observabilité et de protection de l’identité de l’entreprise).
• Qwak : Acquis par JFrog 
• Cyberint : Acquis par Check Point 
• Epsagon : Acquis par Cisco 
• Avanan : Acquis par Check Point 
• Apprentie : Acquis par McDonald’s 
• Traffix : Acquis par F5 
• Guardium : Acquis par IBM 

« L’IA modifie l’économie et la vitesse de l’innovation, mais les principes fondamentaux de la fiabilité de niveau entreprise n’ont pas changé », a déclaré Netanel Meir. « Nous nous efforçons de combler le fossé entre une brillante preuve de concept technique et une entreprise mondiale résiliente, capable de résister aux prochaines vagues d’évolution de l’IA. »

À propos de StageOne Ventures

StageOne Ventures est une société de capital-risque en phase de démarrage qui se consacre à soutenir les fondateurs israéliens de technologies d’entreprise exceptionnelles, de l’idée à la concrétisation. Avec 25 ans d’expérience et plus de 650 millions de dollars sous gestion, StageOne se spécialise dans les investissements de démarrage dans l’infrastructure de l’IA, la cybersécurité et la technologie d’entreprise frontière. En associant le capital à un soutien pratique, à une expertise opérationnelle approfondie et à un réseau mondial, StageOne aide les fondateurs à créer des entreprises leaders dans leur catégorie.

Pour plus d’informations, consultez le site www.stageonevc.com.

Relations avec la presse :
Yael Eckstein
VP Marketing
StageOne
[email protected]

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 12, 2026 — StageOne Ventures today announced the closing of its fifth fund at $165M, marking 25 years of identifying and backing Israel’s most ambitious enterprise technology founders at the inception stage.

With the closing of Fund V, StageOne’s total assets under management (AUM) exceed $650M. This milestone reinforces the firm’s position as the premier institutional partner for technical founders at inception. Since 2001, StageOne has been at the forefront of every major shift in enterprise computing, from the telecom era and the rise of cybersecurity to the cloud migration. Today, Fund V doubles down on the next frontier: the AI Infrastructure layer.

Fund V will focus on breakthrough startups in AI Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Physical AI, Agentic Orchestration, and Vertical AI – sectors where Israeli engineering talent holds a decisive global edge.

“AI is not just a vertical for us; it is the new architecture of enterprise software,” said Yuval Cohen, Founder and Managing Partner at StageOne Ventures. “Despite global and local uncertainties, Israel continues to produce world-class engineering talent. With our fifth fund, we are doubling down on our commitment to be the first and most trusted partner for founders building category-defining companies.”

A Proven Track Record of Scaling Innovation

StageOne is led by Yuval Cohen (Founder and Managing Partner), Tal Slobodkin (Managing Partner), and Netanel Meir (Partner).

To date, the firm has invested in 69 companies and currently supports a high-conviction portfolio of 29 active companies. StageOne serves as the “first-check” investor, maintaining a hands-on, long-term partnership with founders and continuing to support its strongest companies through significant follow-on rounds.

“Our model is built on deep conviction and involvement from day one,” added Tal Slobodkin, Managing Partner. “In a world of automated investing, we provide the opposite: a high-touch partnership. We don’t just provide capital; we provide the strategic and operational foundation that allows technical founders to scale into global category leaders.”

The new fund is backed by a prestigious group of repeat institutional and private investors from the United States, Europe, and Israel, highlighting the long-term confidence in StageOne’s strategy and the resilience of the Israeli tech ecosystem.

Strategic Exits and Market Impact

StageOne has successfully exited 21 investments, consistently delivering strong returns. Notable exits and portfolio highlights include:

• Coralogix & Silverfort: (Leading the next generation of enterprise observability and identity protection).
• Qwak: Acquired by JFrog 
• Cyberint: Acquired by Check Point 
• Epsagon: Acquired by Cisco 
• Avanan: Acquired by Check Point 
• Apprente: Acquired by McDonald’s 
• Traffix: Acquired by F5 
• Guardium: Acquired by IBM 

“AI is shifting the economics and speed of innovation, but the fundamentals of enterprise-grade reliability haven’t changed.” said Netanel Meir, Partner. “We focus on bridging the gap between a brilliant technical proof-of-concept and a resilient, global company that can withstand the next several waves of AI evolution.”

About StageOne Ventures

StageOne Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm dedicated to backing exceptional Israeli enterprise technology founders from idea to exit. With 25 years of experience and over $650M under management, StageOne specializes in inception-stage investments in AI Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, and Frontier Enterprise Tech. By combining capital with hands-on support, deep operational expertise, and a global network, StageOne helps founders build category-leading companies.

For more information, visit www.stageonevc.com.

Media Contact:
Yael Eckstein
VP Marketing
StageOne
[email protected]

Follow-on financing values the company at $9B showing market conviction in the emerging “prompt-to-production” era of AI-powered software

TORONTO, March 11, 2026 – Georgian, a growth-stage B2B investor that builds alongside portfolio companies to unlock value from AI through its in-house AI Lab, today announced it has led a $400 million Series D investment in Replit, valuing the company at $9 billion. The investment represents a rapid follow-on for Georgian, which first invested in Replit’s Series C late last year and is now doubling down as the company expands its position in AI-powered software creation. Georgian is joined in the round by partners including G Squared, Prysm Capital, Coatue, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Craft Ventures, Y Combinator, Accenture Ventures, Okta Ventures and Databricks Ventures among others.

Replit provides an AI-powered development platform designed to enable students, teachers, designers, small business owners and engineers to generate, deploy, and iterate on software applications within a single environment. The platform integrates the development environment with AI-assisted coding tools, runtime infrastructure and deployment capabilities. Replit supports integrations with enterprise systems, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Snowflake, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud, as well as collaboration tools such as Slack and Jira.

“This round reflects our conviction in both the scale of the market and Replit’s momentum,” said Margaret Wu, Lead Investor at Georgian. “Software creation is expanding beyond traditional developers and Replit has built a platform that allows people to move from idea to production software in a single environment. We believe Replit is part of a class of companies shaping the new AI-driven technology economy.”

Replit’s platform is currently used by more than 50 million users, building a range of solutions from school projects to enterprise-grade internal systems. Enterprise customers include Zillow, Labcorp, Atlassian, PayPal and Adobe. According to Replit, users from over 85% of Fortune 500 companies are building using Replit.

Since Georgian’s initial investment in Q3 2025, business adoption has also increased. According to Ramp, Replit ranked among the fastest-growing software platforms as of March 2026, with higher new-customer adoption.

“Our mission has always been that every human with an idea and an Internet connection should be able to build any app they want,” said Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit. “Georgian understood that vision early on, and their partnership has been useful as we continue expanding what builders can imagine and do with Replit.”

Alongside this investment, Replit has launched Replit Agent 4, the company’s latest and most powerful AI agent to date. Agent 4 combines design and code within a single environment, allowing users to move fluidly from concept to working software. The platform is designed with both a low floor and high ceiling, enabling beginners to start building quickly while supporting advanced development workflows in enterprises.

Replit plans to use the new capital to accelerate product development, deepen enterprise capabilities, expand integrations and advance agent-driven software creation.

About Georgian:

Georgian is a growth equity firm investing in B2B technology companies, taking a concentrated approach of 6 investments per year and providing both capital and technical capability to help portfolio companies scale. Georgian has been active in analytics and applied AI since its founding in 2008 and invests across the AI technology stack, from infrastructure and applications to cybersecurity and developer tools. Georgian’s in-house AI Lab of 20+ ML engineers and scientists works with portfolio companies on production AI deployment. Georgian’s team brings together investors with machine learning professionals, software entrepreneurs and experienced operators aiming to provide a differentiated experience across the entire investment lifecycle. The firm manages $5.7B AUM (as of September 30, 2025) and has invested in more than 80 companies.

About Replit:

Replit makes coding accessible to billions on the planet from children making school projects to enterprises running their business. With millions of users worldwide, Replit is democratizing software development by removing traditional barriers to application creation. The company is headquartered in San Francisco.

The information herein is provided for general informational purposes only. Nothing in this press release constitutes legal, business, tax, investment, or other professional advice, nor a recommendation, offer, or solicitation to buy or sell any securities, financial instruments, investments, or services, including those of any fund or entity managed or advised by Georgian Partners Growth LP and its affiliates. 

SOURCE Georgian Partners Growth LP

• Garlock Flexibles and C-P Flexible Packaging (“Garlock/C-P”) combined in October 2025, creating one of the Top 15 players in flexible packaging
• Astara Capital Fund I led a continuation vehicle for Garlock Flexibles and the simultaneous acquisition of CP Flexible Packaging with support from leading co-investors
• Astara initially invested in Garlock Flexibles in 2021

NEW YORK, March 11, 2026 — Astara Capital Partners, LLC (“Astara”), a middle-market private equity firm, today announced that the firm led a continuation vehicle for Garlock Flexibles (“Garlock”), and the simultaneous merger of C-P Flexible Packaging (“C-P”) in October 2025. The combination created one of the Top 15 flexible packaging manufacturers in North America, with 10 manufacturing locations strategically positioned across the United States and Canada. Garlock/C-P is headquartered in York, Pennsylvania.

Astara acquired Garlock in 2021, transforming it from a non-core subsidiary of a family-owned business into a standalone company with a leading position in food and produce packaging. The formation of Garlock/C-P represented a natural progression in that strategy and demonstrated Astara’s ability to execute complicated transactions while returning capital to investors.

Michael Ranson, Managing Partner of Astara, said, “We are grateful to our investors for their support and partnership, which made the C-P transaction possible. Their confidence in our strategy has enabled us to simultaneously provide liquidity to certain investors while building a stronger, more diversified, and scalable flexible packaging platform with significant long-term growth potential.”

A Scaled Platform Positioned for Growth
Garlock/C-P’s platform offers expanded capabilities in high-graphics flexographic printing, adhesive and extrusion lamination, cold seal applications, laser perforation and scoring, clean-room production, and stand-up pouch and bag converting. The company continues to advance recyclable and compostable flexible packaging formats and sustainable material solutions to support customers’ evolving environmental commitments. Garlock/C-P plans to make more than $20 million in capital investments in 2026. This includes preventative maintenance programs, new manufacturing equipment, modernization of select production assets, and continued investment in IT, data infrastructure, and analytics capabilities.

Lindsey Tannenbaum, Partner at Astara commented, “The formation of Garlock/C-P has created a leading flexible packaging manufacturer with the scale, capabilities, and innovation engine to better serve customers across North America. The integration is off to a great start: the team has made significant progress across key functional areas while maintaining disciplined focus on seamless service, quality, and responsiveness for customers throughout the transition.”

Rob Groberg, Partner at Astara added, “We are extremely proud of the progress Garlock has made since we partnered with the company in 2021. Thank you to Greg Powell and the entire Garlock team for their exceptional work. Executing the combination with C-P is a testament to their leadership, discipline, and commitment to building a best-in-class organization.”

BMO Capital Markets served as financial advisor, M2O Private Fund Advisors served as placement agent, and Proskauer Rose LLP served as legal counsel to Garlock on the merger transaction. Greenhill & Co., a Mizuho affiliate, served as exclusive financial advisor and Dechert LLP served as legal counsel to C-P.

About Astara Capital Partners
Astara Capital Partners is an integrated team of investors and operators focused on the middle market. The firm provides capital, strategic guidance, and operational support to help build sustainable value across its portfolio. Astara invests in sectors where it has deep expertise, including building products, home services, food, packaging, manufacturing, and distribution. More information is available at www.astaracapital.com.

SOURCE Astara Capital Partners

Funding to accelerate the launch, integration, and scaling of a next-generation adaptive trading platform.

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 11, 2026 — Option Circle, a financial technology company developing an autonomous, regime-based trading platform, today announced it has secured $3 million in new capital to support commercialization, platform integration, and phased market deployment.

The financing included Savoie Capital, an asset management firm led by CEO Paul Savoie; Wagon Wheel Capital, led by James Hyde, CEO and Founder of Wagon Wheel Capital LLC and former NYSE Head of Strategic Partnerships and Co-Vice Chairman of the American Stock Exchange; investors from the company’s StartEngine equity crowdfunding campaign; and a group of private investors.

The company is building trading infrastructure designed to detect changing market regimes, dynamically adapt strategy behavior, and execute within a governed automated framework. Proceeds from the round will support system integration, execution governance enhancements, operational resilience, and controlled commercial rollout initiatives.

“Markets are increasingly defined by rapid regime shifts across volatility cycles, macro conditions, and liquidity environments,” said Shishu Bedi, Founder and CEO of Option Circle. “We believe the next stage of trading infrastructure must move beyond static algorithms toward adaptive systems capable of operating with discipline across those shifts.”

Building Autonomous Trading Infrastructure

In recent months, Option Circle introduced several components of its platform architecture:

• Volatility Intelligence Engine: A system designed to monitor and interpret real-time volatility dynamics.
• Next-Generation Backtesting Engine: A high-fidelity simulation framework for evaluating strategies across historical and synthetic market environments.
• Autonomous Platform Roadmap: A development plan integrating volatility analytics, backtesting infrastructure, and a forthcoming AI-driven Strategy Engine.

The company describes its approach as regime-based, meaning strategies are structured to adjust in response to shifting market conditions rather than operate under fixed assumptions.

To date, Option Circle has filed 38 patent applications covering elements of its trading architecture as part of its intellectual property strategy.

Market Context

Algorithmic trading has historically relied on predefined rule sets and parameter-driven strategies. Option Circle aims to build systems that adapt continuously to evolving market conditions through integrated analytics and automated decision layers.

The company positions its platform within a broader shift toward greater automation in financial markets, where resilience, governance, and adaptability are increasingly central to performance.

About Option Circle

Option Circle is a financial technology company developing an AI-driven autonomous trading platform. The company integrates machine learning-based regime classification, volatility intelligence, adaptive strategy modeling, and governed automated execution infrastructure to deliver institutional-grade trading intelligence built for evolving market conditions.

For more information, visit https://www.optioncircle.com

For investor relations inquiries and additional information, visit https://www.optioncircle.com/investors

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Option Circle’s strategy, development plans, commercialization initiatives, and anticipated market position. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Option Circle undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law.

Contact:
Katie Gerber
Dopamine Group
[email protected]
(408) 799-5864

SOURCE Option Circle

The Fast-Growing Beer Brand Raises Seed Capital to Accelerate National Retail Expansion

LOS ANGELES, March 11, 2026 — Hurray’s GIRL BEER, the humor-led flavored light beer brand leading a new wave of beer built for the next generation of drinkers, today announced a new funding round led by Lakehouse Ventures, with participation from Spice Capital, CPG industry insiders, entertainment executives – and, notably, despite the brand’s arbitrary ban of one guy named Connor, another guy named Connor.

The funding follows a successful California launch and rapid, multi-state expansion into the Southwest and Texas, where the brand is partnering with leading Anheuser-Busch and Molson Coors distributors. In its first year, the brand secured retail placements with national chains including Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, and Whole Foods.

“Beer is one of the most untapped frontiers in beverage for new-entrant brands. For the first time in history, the majority of alcohol consumers under the age of 30 are female,” said Ray Biebuyck, Founder & CEO of Hurray’s Girl Beer. “Nearly 60% of those women say they don’t drink beer because the category lacks flavor options. There is a clear opportunity to bring more fun and flavor to beer, and after proving the concept in our home market in 2025, we’re excited to take the next step.”

Over the past year, the brand has focused heavily on velocity in its home market, achieving top-15% performance across many grocery chain accounts. As the business expands, Girl Beer will continue pursuing deeper ACV and distribution in its existing footprint while selectively entering new markets that fit its strategic criteria: strong large-format grocery engagement, culture-setting retailers, and significant Gen Z, Millennial, and college-town demand.

“We’ve been incredibly fortunate to partner with blue-chip distributors and retailers as we head into a major 2026 expansion,” Biebuyck said. “This is the year we establish the brand across multiple markets – taking what we’ve learned from our California launch and scaling it nationally.”

In 2026, the funding will support Girl Beer’s sales and marketing efforts as the company continues its national rollout, including expansion into new markets in the Midwest and Southeast where the brand is already in advanced discussions with top-tier distributor and chain retail partners. The investment will also support additional viral marketing campaigns designed to drive nationwide brand awareness.

The company has also expanded its core team through several strategic moves across sales, marketing, and operations. Girl Beer retained BrightBev, founded by Molson Coors veteran Jeff Agase, to lead distributor expansion; hired Matt Webster, former Vice President at Juneshine, to oversee operations and production; tapped Elisha Sevier, founder of Peaklign Partners and formerly of Red Bull and Walmart, to lead retail sales; and brought on former Liquid Death creatives.

In response to strong chain retail demand, the company will also launch seven new flavors in its flavored light beer lineup: Strawberry, Mango, Tangerine, Peach, Passionfruit Orange, Strawberry Watermelon, and Grapefruit Guava. Each beer contains 95 calories, 4.2% ABV, and no added sugar, and will now be available in both 6-packs and mixed variety 12-packs.

“Beer is a $100+ billion category, yet it has seen very little real innovation in the last decade,” says John Neamonitis, Founder and General Partner of Lakehouse Ventures, which has invested in notable consumer brands including Billie, the women’s razor company acquired by Edgewell in 2021, and Bobbie, the high-growth baby formula company. “As an investor, there aren’t many markets where you see a dynamic like this. Combine that with a founder like Ray, who has both cultural and product insight, and we believe there’s a recipe to build something incredibly special.”

“Ray is a one-of-one founder – combining the business rigor of an investment banker with the cultural instinct of an art history major,” says Maya Bakhai, Founder and Managing Partner of Spice Capital and former investor for NBA player Kevin Durant, with portfolio companies including the viral sunscreen brand Vacation. “You can see it in the product – it speaks for itself. Ray saw what the broader beer industry missed: the next generation of drinkers wants flavor, fun, and brands that reflect culture. We’re excited to double down as the company scales nationwide and Hurray builds a platform of brands across beverage.”

The brand also received a strong endorsement from the founder’s mother. “This is my favorite beer,” said Valerie Biebuyck, adding, “seriously, I promise I’m not biased.”

ABOUT HURRAY’S GIRL BEER

Launched in Fall 2024 by Los Angeles-based consumer brand company Hurray, its Girl Beer is bringing a new generation of drinkers to the beer aisle. The brand pairs irreverent, narrative-driven marketing with flavored light beers made with real juice and organic flavors. Each 4.2% ABV beer contains 95 calories, zero added sugar, and comes in bright flavors like Pineapple Yuzu, Tangerine, Peach, and Strawberry Watermelon.

For more information, visit Girl Beer’s website or follow them on Instagram.

ABOUT LAKEHOUSE VENTURES
Lakehouse Ventures is an early-stage investment firm backing founders who are innovating the everyday products, services, and software of our everyday lives. The firm invests in entrepreneurs building from a place of insight and passion, believing that the people who have intimately felt the problem they are solving will create the things consumers want most. Lakehouse launched in New York City in 2017 and has deployed over $100 MM across 42 companies.

For more information, visit Lakehouse Ventures’ website.

Media Contacts:
[email protected]

SOURCE Hurray’s GIRL BEER

NEW YORK, March 11, 2026 — Ernesta, which has quickly emerged as the largest custom-sized rug retailer in the United States, today announced it has raised $20 million in Series B financing led by Addition, with participation from existing investors True Ventures and Platform Capital Management.

The new capital will support Ernesta’s continued expansion as it builds the leading brand in the U.S. rug market through a growing omni-channel platform for both interior designers and homeowners that combines digital tools with experiential showrooms.

As part of its retail strategy, Ernesta plans to scale to 30 showroom locations nationwide by the end of 2027, building on the strong performance of its existing stores in key design markets. The new investment will also help Ernesta further develop its technology platforms, including enhancements to its Trade Portal, improvements to manufacturing and fabrication technology, and streamlined tools for ordering samples and managing custom projects.

Ernesta offers custom-sized rugs, including stair runners, cut precisely to fit any space, with curated styles and materials, transparent pricing, and delivery in as little as two weeks.

“Rugs are one of the most important design elements in the home, yet the category has historically been fragmented, opaque, and difficult for customers to navigate,” said John Foley, Founder and CEO of Ernesta. “We are building Ernesta to change that, with designer-quality custom-sized rugs, curated design and an experience that feels modern and empowering. Our continued 100% year-on-year growth speaks to how much interior designers and ambitious homeowners are appreciating the Ernesta approach.”

To support this next phase of growth, Ernesta has also announced two key leadership updates. Alan Smith, previously Chief Marketing Officer, has been promoted to President, reflecting his central role in scaling the company’s brand, growth strategy, and go-to-market organization. The company has also appointed Alexandria Norton as Chief Financial Officer, bringing deep financial leadership experience as Ernesta enters its next phase of growth.

“Ernesta is building a truly differentiated brand in a massive category that has lacked a modern consumer leader,” said Lee Fixel of Addition. “The team has combined strong product curation, a compelling retail experience, and proprietary technology to simplify the custom rug market. We’re excited to continue supporting their growth.”

Despite 100 million rugs sold annually, the U.S. rug market remains highly fragmented. Ernesta is positioned to capture this white space by becoming the first dominant, tech-enabled brand in the category.

“With Ernesta, we saw an opportunity to build the strongest brand in a category where design matters deeply to Trade and consumers,” said Jon Callaghan, Co-founder and Managing Partner at True Ventures. “The company is creating a modern platform that brings together retail, technology, and supply chain innovation in a way that has not existed before.”

About Ernesta

Founded in 2022, Ernesta is a New York-based custom-sized rug company focused on making it easy for interior designers and homeowners to find the perfect rug for any space. Ernesta offers designer-quality, custom-sized rugs, curated design selections, transparent pricing, and fast delivery through a growing omni-channel platform that includes e-commerce, trade tools, and experiential retail showrooms. Already the largest retailer of custom-sized rugs in the US, the company’s mission is to build the leading rug brand in the broader rug category.

SOURCE Ernesta

Round Funds Strategic Move Beyond POS into AI-Powered Restaurant Platform

CHICAGO, March 11, 2026 — Chowbus, the leading AI-powered platform for culturally rooted restaurants, today announced it has closed an $81 million round.  Built on a foundation of $120+ million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)  – representing 9x growth over the past four years, and approximately $4 billion in annualized processed transaction volume across all 50 states and Canada, achieved in the last four years, the round was led by Prysm Capital and Left Lane Capital, with participation from Dutchess, Fika, and Avid Bank.

The raise marks an inflection point for Chowbus: having proven its model at scale with thousands of independent restaurants, the company is now expanding beyond its integrated POS and management platform into the significantly larger market for restaurant services – including marketing, accounting, supply ordering, and insurance, where operators spend far more than on software alone.

“Our journey has always been about technology, equality, and reinvention with purpose,” said Linxin Wen, CEO of Chowbus. “The success of our first AI product, AI Digital Ads, has proven that we can help independent restaurants compete at a much higher level. We are now building the next-generation AI restaurant platform to support entrepreneurs, the backbone of our communities. This is the most exciting era for the restaurant industry since the move to cloud-based POS.”

The Asian restaurant industry, a core market for Chowbus, represents approximately 16% of the total U.S. restaurant market and is projected to reach $240 billion in value by the end of 2026. Despite economic headwinds and rising inflation, this sector has grown 135% over the last 25 years.

“Linxin and the Chowbus team have shown exceptional execution, transforming the business into a scaled, mission-critical platform for restaurants,” said Kerry Wei, Partner at Prysm Capital. “With strong recurring revenue, expanding transaction volume, and a strategic move into AI-driven services, Chowbus is at a clear inflection point. We’re proud to partner with the Chowbus team as they build the next-generation AI platform that empowers operators to compete and grow in an increasingly complex market.”

“Chowbus is leveraging AI to enter these massive service areas, providing 10x better efficiency than traditional solutions, while maintaining the essential human touch required in the hospitality industry,” said Harley Miller, CEO and Managing Partner of Left Lane Capital. “By moving beyond software to become a true operating partner, they’re helping these restaurants compete at a level previously reserved for chains.”

Chowbus plans to use the funds to expand its suite of AI-driven tools for marketing, automated accounting, and supply chain optimization; deepen service integration by moving beyond traditional SaaS to offer comprehensive business services that reduce overhead for restaurant operators, and pursue international expansion into Canada while strengthening support for the tens of thousands of independent restaurants currently using its POS and analytics platform.

About Chowbus

Chowbus is a full-stack technology platform dedicated to empowering independent, culturally rooted restaurants across the United States. Founded in 2016, the company provides intuitive POS systems, integrated marketing solutions, and powerful AI-driven tools designed to foster sustainable growth and cultural enrichment. For more information, visit www.chowbus.com.

About Prysm Capital

Prysm Capital seeks to partner with disruptive, generational companies at the inflection point of accelerated growth. With offices in New York, San Francisco, and Princeton, Prysm provides flexible growth capital to founders building category-defining technology and consumer businesses, including Replit, Island, FieldAI, Clear Street, Rivian, and Fanatics. For more information, visit www.prysmcapital.com.

About Left Lane Capital

Founded in 2019, Left Lane Capital is a New York and London-based venture capital and growth equity firm investing in high-growth internet and consumer technology businesses globally. Left Lane’s mission is to partner with extraordinary entrepreneurs who create category-defining companies across growth sectors of the economy. Select investments include Bilt Rewards, Holy, Olipop, Talkiatry, Blank Street, Kings League, Smalls, and more. For more information, visit www.leftlane.com.

Media Contact:
Mary Magnani, CodePR
[email protected]

SOURCE Chowbus

The startup uses AI to generate highly optimized GPU kernels, improving AI workload performance without changing models or hardware.

PALO ALTO, Calif., March 11, 2026 — Standard Kernel, a startup building AI systems that automatically generate ultra-optimized GPU software, today announced a $20 million seed round led by Jump Capital, with participation from General Catalyst, Felicis, Cowboy Ventures, Link Ventures, Essence VC, and an incredible group of angels and strategic partners including David M. Siegel, Jeff Dean, Jonathan Frankle, Michael Carbin, Sachin Katti, Walden Yan, CoreWeave, and Ericsson Ventures.

As global investment in AI infrastructure accelerates, companies are deploying hundreds of billions of dollars into GPU clusters. Yet much of that hardware does not run at peak theoretical performance. Extracting maximum efficiency from modern accelerators requires deep expertise in hardware architecture, compiler behavior, and low-level systems optimization. Today, most performance-critical code is still written and tuned manually, making it difficult to keep pace with rapidly evolving chips and increasingly complex AI workloads.

Standard Kernel is taking a different approach. The company uses AI to autonomously generate highly specialized GPU kernels, the foundational units of computation that determine how efficiently models run. By operating deep in the stack and optimizing down to native chip instructions, Standard Kernel replaces static, one-size-fits-all libraries with code precisely tailored to specific workloads and hardware configurations.

In partner testing, Standard Kernel has demonstrated performance improvements ranging from 80 percent to 4x on end-to-end workloads running on NVIDIA H100 GPUs, outperforming NVIDIA’s highly optimized cuDNN library in certain scenarios.

Kernel generation has recently become a popular benchmark task for large language models, but most existing approaches focus on higher-level abstractions or simpler workloads. Generating instruction-level, hardware-specialized kernels that match or exceed the best human-engineered implementations remains an open challenge. Standard Kernel’s goal is to automate that frontier, enabling day-one peak performance on new hardware platforms without waiting for lengthy manual tuning cycles.

“What excites us about Standard Kernel is that they are applying AI to one of the most manual and technically demanding layers of the stack,” said Saaya Pal, Partner at Jump Capital. “Hardware innovation is accelerating, but the software that extracts peak performance from it has lagged behind. Automating instruction-level optimization has the potential to meaningfully change how AI infrastructure scales.”

“Standard Kernel is tackling one of the most consequential challenges in modern compute, driving optimization deep within the systems stack where performance is won or lost,” said Brian Venturo, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, CoreWeave. “As AI adoption continues to scale, breakthroughs in the layers beneath today’s models will define the next generation of capabilities. That depth of technical ambition and the caliber of the team are precisely why CoreWeave Ventures is proud to invest in Standard Kernel as they shape the future of AI systems.”

“Kernel generation is key for improving performance and efficiency of AI hardware,” added Dylan Patel, founder of SemiAnalysis. “As fleet sizes for users of AI hardware get larger, and more hardware diversity is introduced, Standard Kernel becomes key to deployment.”

With the new funding, Standard Kernel will accelerate development of its autonomous kernel generation platform, expand deployments with AI-native and enterprise partners, and continue advancing toward adaptive systems software that improves alongside new models and new hardware.

About Standard Kernel

Standard Kernel brings together expertise across machine learning, computer systems, and hardware-level optimization. The team includes alumni from MIT, Stanford, UIUC, and SJTU, and has contributed widely used open-source research and benchmarks, including KernelBench and Kernel Tree Search.

Standard Kernel is hiring engineers and researchers interested in building AI systems that optimize AI itself. Learn more at https://standardkernel.com/ or contact [email protected].

SOURCE Standard Kernel